Gone But Not Forgotten. I hope.

I've been gone. We went to see family.

And we've been having fun. 

It's summer time. What can I say? 

We don't get many warm months up here on the mountain tops of Montana. I gotta enjoy them while I can.

So I hope you don't forget me.

I do most of my writing from my phone. Then the photos are never where I want them, and so I still have to wait to get to the main computer to touch it all up. It just isn't happening.

Will I ever get caught up?

So go enjoy your summer! We sure are!

America the Beautiful

Oh, beautiful for spacious skies,

For amber waves of grain,

For purple mountains Majesties

Above the fruited plane!

America! America!

God shed his grace on thee,

And crown thy good with brotherhood 

From sea to shining sea.

OK, technically, this last shot is of a lake. 

I have pics of the Atlantic, 

but I just wanted to get this post up for the 4th of July and so I used what was handy. 

This is my favorite Patriotic song 

and I always think of it as I'm driving to and fro seeing these stunning views. 

May your holiday be wonderful! 

And stay tuned for my ever enjoyable 4th of July Rodeo Judging post 

which will be coming early next week! 

(You can check out last years winners here)

Enjoy the weekend! 

Hanging Around The Garden

This little fellah was spotted behind the garden.  

My kids and I were out helping and the gardener pointed him out. 

His mama took off, but a cubs first instinct is to climb. 

And that's what he did.

He stayed up there long enought to put on a show for the guests. 

And when we were all done and had left, he took his leave. 

I'm assuming he met up with his mama. 

A big thank you to Adventure Man for the use of his photos. 

Every Needful Thing

I love silos. 

If you follow me on Instagram, you know. 

I had to stop and take this last month. 

I'm just now sharing. 

You Soccer Moms Got Nothing on ME ~ or ~ What Happened to May??

Two posts. That's all I got.

As in, that's all I had for May. 

My personal worst! Like going back to the days I started these Ramblings! 

So, this is writer's block?
Kind of. But mostly I've just been busy.
Crazy busy. 

And that means I was driving. A lot. 

So, I thought I would share. 

• Jr high track practice.  No really. This meant that Lulu wasn't riding the bus home so I had to go down and pick her up at 5 pm. Everyday.

Total time spent: 1-1.5 hours 

Total mileage: 50 

• Jr high track meets. Most all track meets in this area are held in the northern town of Cut Bank. They have the best track. And the worst weather.

I don't know how you figure the windchill factor, but I totally believe this penguin. Penguins know about this stuff, especially the Giant Northern Penguins of Cut Bank. Plus, I've only been in Cut Bank, like twice when it wasn't windy. And by windy, I'm talking 40+ mph with gusts up to 80 mph. The chart doesn't even go to 80 mph! Seriously, I've seen it! I've seen my 2 year old's feet come off the ground. It's happened. 

Total time: all day with departure time 6:15 am

Total Mileage:  210

• Softball. Just before track ended, Bean decided to go out for Softball. This is a sweet little girl who has never shown the slightest inkling of wanting to do anything with sports. I was so excited! She learned real quick the phrase, "Softball, ain't nothing soft about it!" She was hit in the head more than once in those first days of practise. She got to the point that she just wanted to quit.

 But she stuck it out and stayed true to her commitment. They practiced Tuesdays and Thursdays, in the evenings. Games were Mondays and Wednesdays, and were stretched out all over. So instead of clearing up my schedule, it really just got crazier.

Total Time: 4 to 6 hours
Total mileage: 50 to 210

But, even though schools been out for over a week, we are heading into our last week of sports… (Well, sort of!) We have softball tournaments this week (so far they are undefeated!) and basketball camp too.

Does it ever really end?
I hope not!
This Mama's having a heck of a lot of fun!

Counting Down to Opening Day

No, I'm not talking about MLB here, I know opening day has come and gone (Go Giants)!

Yeah, I'm a born and raised Giants fan. See, I told you orange is my favorite color!

I'm talking about here at the ranch. The Guest Ranch will open in 13 days!

Before that, we have our annual Volunteer Weekend to help get ready. We have a willing group of 80+ come stay with us and do some of the more labor intensive work. They bring their own sleeping bags and sleep wherever they will fit. They help chop firewood for each of the guest cabins, the lodge, the employee cabins, the office and our home. They wash windows and floors, they set up the furniture and unpack the kitchen, they plant in the gardens, and prepare their own food. This year they get to help put a new fence around the pool, lay sod in front of the lodge and put down a flagstone path throughout the property. We are still suffering the aftermath of the septic project of the the fall, namely in MUD! These people are amazing!

Bunny talking to the tomatoes in the greenhouse.
The back wall is full of sprouts waiting for their move to the gardens.

Now sadly for me, the weekend is the same weekend that my 7th grader has her last track meet. So I will not be there to help in all that. I'm sorry, but my kiddos do come first. Plus, I know they are in good hands.

It is also the day of the Walk MS that I am signed up for. I am signed up as a virtual walker, because I knew I wouldn't be able to be there. But I am still in need of donations! If you would like to make a donation, click on the green MS button on the top of my side bar up there. That will take you were you need to get.

A to Z Challenge in Retrospect

This was the first year I've participated in the A to Z Challenge. I honestly thought I was crazy for signing up. But not only did I enjoy myself, it wasn't as hard to pull off as I thought.

I couldn't have made it without scheduling my posts. That helped immensely, although there where a few days when the scheduled posts ran out and I needed to actually take a minute to set up the rest of the month. Over all, I spend very little time at the computer.

Coming up with the posts was the fun part. The theme made it easy and my kids liked brainstorming ideas with me. Having the posts more image related helped. But now and then I told a story, like in my Owl post.

My most popular post seems to be the Cubs. And thus far we haven't seen them this year. That's a good thing. I hope they are more leery of us now that they are older. I have, however, seen three grizzly bears in the past week! But it was much farther away, off the Guest Ranch.

A darn big Grizzly Bear, looking right at me! 

He was pretty far away though.
My daughter took this shot of me. She's so awesome. 

Sorry… back to this post…

Will I do it again? You bet! And now that I know I will, I've got a year to plan!
Do I recommend it to other bloggers? Absolutely!

And the perks are even better! I've so enjoyed seeing how others have approached the challenge. I've visited many fabulous writers and will continue to. Many of the blogs on the list were not the kind of blogs who hang in the same Memes as I usually do. So the link up aspect of this challenge introduced me to these wonderful people whom I wouldn't have found on my own.

And I want to thank everyone who popped in on me! I have enjoyed every one of your comments!

Thanks for coming 'round!